


Cleansing Fire

by Just_Another_Day



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bonding, Dragons, Drama, Gen, Young Laurent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-20 19:00:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18531184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Another_Day/pseuds/Just_Another_Day
Summary: Laurent would trust Auguste and follow him anywhere, even into a cave containing numerous massive predators who could easily burn them both to death if the dragons decided that they didn't want these tiny humans inside their den.





	Cleansing Fire

Laurent almost expected to be burned alive the moment he fully emerged into the heat of the cave. Only Auguste's sure grip around Laurent's fingers prevented Laurent from digging his heels into the jagged stones under his feet or turning around and fleeing entirely the way he instinctively wanted to do. But Laurent quickly reminded himself that there was no way that Auguste had faltered years ago when _he'd_ first been brought here for his Introduction. So Laurent shouldn't allow himself to shy away from it either. He could manage this, just as everyone else born into his line for centuries now had managed to do.

Still, his reticence must have been obvious, for Auguste made a point of saying, "Don't worry. They know why you've come. They're not going to attack you."

"How can you be sure?" Laurent asked. He wished that he could blame the echoing quality of the stones around them rather than fear for how tremulous his voice sounded.

"Because they need us as much as we need them," Auguste said simply.

Father had always said that as well. But then, Laurent wasn't sure how much he could rely on Father's take on the matter when Father had also always claimed that the creatures had throughout their history _willingly_ fought in battle at the command of royal-blooded Veretian men. In exchange for, what, companionship? That was what the Bond ultimately seemed to amount to, as far as Laurent could tell from the stories. Yes, the establishment of the Bond might enable the dragons to be born in the first place, but it seemed unfair that they would then have to repay that simple action by potentially enslaving themselves to the whims of their Bonded human, including risking themselves in battle, for the entire duration of their lives. It was completely unfathomable to Laurent that such magnificent creatures would ever agree to an obviously uneven trade-off like that. Why would a _dragon_ ever take fighting orders from a boy like Laurent, who was so comparatively small and fragile that surely even a half-grown dragon could easily swallow him whole? It made no sense to him at all.

But as unbelievable as it might sound, Auguste said that Laurent was safe, and that this was necessary. Laurent would trust Auguste and follow him anywhere, even into a cave containing numerous massive predators who could easily burn them both to death if the dragons decided that they didn't want these tiny humans inside their den. 

They entered the cave proper with Laurent trailing just slightly behind his brother. Even when he was only peering past Auguste's shoulder, Laurent could see something _very_ large moving in front of them. Laurent gathered his bravery and stepped far enough out from behind Auguste that he could properly both see and be seen (and judged). He looked out into the cavern, up, and up, and eventually his gaze locked with a single slitted eye of a creature that was dozens of times larger than Laurent. 

Laurent's couldn't even blink under the intensity of the dragon's scrutiny. It was obvious he was being judged. He couldn't flinch.

Laurent half-expected the dragon would decide he wasn't worthy. He thought that any moment he might see the dragon's jaws part, with the light of fire forming at the back of its throat, ready to be launched at the intruder. Auguste would surely be spared, as one of the dragons that Laurent was distantly aware were skulking around at the back of the cave was Bonded to him and would surely protect him, if the stories weren't a _complete_ lie. But Laurent had no such assurances yet.

Still, the flames never came. Instead, the dragon eventually shifted its gaze from Laurent and reared backwards slightly, the shifting of weight making the stones under Laurent's feet shudder. 

Its wings extended before sweeping downwards, propelling it into the air. Its ascent was somewhat slow and lumbering, but something told Laurent that was only due to care it had to take in the relative narrowness of the space. Given the open sky above the plains outside Arles – where the beasts often hunted of a night when it was too dark for their shapes to be clearly seen those times when Laurent had snuck out to try to get a glimpse – Laurent would bet the dragon was as graceful as it was intimidating.

Once it rose high enough, the strong downdraught of its wings buffeting Laurent's body so that he nearly stumbled several times before he could get accustomed to it and brace himself properly. Out of the corner of his eye, Laurent caught sight of Auguste shifting forward as if to catch and support his little brother, the way he'd done when Laurent was first learning to ride his pony and kept nearly losing his balance when he'd tried to go too fast too quickly. Laurent shook his head sharply. If there was ever a time when he had to prove he could stand alone, this was surely it.

Auguste continued to look mildly worried for Laurent, but he obligingly held himself back. He silently pointed towards the spot that the dragon had just vacated. Laurent's gaze followed the path of Auguste's outstretched arm until he saw what almost looked like a small boulder.

Laurent had never seen one before, but he knew what it had to be. He knew why he was here, after all.

That was a dragon egg.

The fact that Laurent was seeing it at all, with the egg having been left so exposed to him now, clearly meant that Laurent had been judged and implicitly given permission. He knew what was expected of him now. Father had described this moment multiple times over the years, and Auguste had guided Laurent through it as well before they'd set out together for the cave. 

As he approached the egg, Laurent tried to keep his back straight to show none of his lurking fear that this could still go horribly wrong at any moment. It was made difficult due to the wind generated by beating wings as the egg's mother circled overhead pressing at Laurent, but he did at least manage to remain upright as he crossed the distance, so he counted that a victory. 

Once he was finally close enough to touch, Laurent slowly extended both of his hands. The shell of the egg was smoother to the touch than it had appeared from a distance. It was almost hot enough to burn skin. Laurent resisted the urge to pull his hands away from the intense heat of it. If he'd managed the rest, then he could bear this part, Laurent reminded himself.

Something equally hot flared suddenly to life in Laurent's chest, as if he were being scorched from the inside. Laurent might have reflexively pressed the ball of his hand against his sternum over the source of that burning sensation, as though he could rub the discomfort away, if his hands didn't feel like they were practically welded to the egg at that moment.

"You feel its fire?" Auguste called out from behind him, bringing back some of Laurent's awareness of his surroundings.

Laurent nodded even as the foreign feeling started fading. " _Her_ fire," Laurent corrected absently. Laurent didn't know how he knew that, but he didn't doubt the truth of it.

"That's the start of the bond. It means she's accepted you as hers."

Laurent could feel that. He couldn't have explained that aspect of it either, but he did know that even once the initial burn of it receded, Laurent could feel that something had been left behind, nestled in his chest. Dormant, but undeniably _there_. Like something sleeping.

Even now, when it was quiet, the Bond was different than what Laurent had grown up imagining. Auguste had called the Bond something akin to a deep lifelong friendship, but Uncle had said that was just because Auguste's dragon was soft. So from the way Uncle and Father had both described, Laurent had thought that it would actually be some kind of _claiming_. That Laurent would have to actually master or subjugate a new-born dragon before it would accept him. But this felt far more mutual. Oddly comforting, even. Like Laurent belonged to her as much as she did to him. For the first time, Laurent could almost see why she actually might have reason to want to fight for him if that was what it took to protect him one day, if it was going to be like that between them. Laurent wondered how much stronger that feeling would be once she fully awoke and cracked through the shell of her egg.

"When will she hatch?" Laurent asked after Auguste had waved Laurent back to his side, probably sensing the mother dragon's growing impatience to resecure her egg. She certainly was quick to swoop back down once Laurent retreated far enough back not to be crushed.

Auguste answered, "Soon, now that she can sense that you're waiting for her."

Oddly, as afraid of the prospect as he'd been only a few minutes ago, Laurent didn't feel any of that now. Like the sensation of the Bond forming had simultaneously scorched it out of him. Now Laurent found that he _was_ eagerly waiting to meet her, even knowing that doing so would require him to return into this cave with all the other dragons hovering threateningly over him, able to kill him at any moment.

Laurent thought, hesitating long enough to allow him to glance back in the direction of the dragon egg - _his_ dragon - as Auguste led him back out of the cave, that he understood exactly what Auguste had meant when he'd described his Introduction to his own dragon as 'life-altering'. Laurent felt like a slightly different boy left the cave than the one who'd gone in.

It was a change that Laurent was actually glad for.


End file.
